


JWP 2020 #22: A Very Special Interview

by methylviolet10b



Category: Sesame Street (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Career Women, Crack, Gen, Prompt Fic, Women in television, honestly I have no idea where this came from but here you are, yes even children's television
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:55:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25458157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/methylviolet10b/pseuds/methylviolet10b
Summary: "Tonight we’re going to speak with one of the pioneering women Muppets of Sesame Street." Written for JWP #22 over on Watson's Woes.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 5
Collections: Watson's Woes JWP Collection: 2020





	JWP 2020 #22: A Very Special Interview

**Author's Note:**

> **Warnings** : Oh geez, I have NO idea where this came from. Utter crack with some serious underlying issues making it even crackier, I suppose. There's a particularly egregious set of meta jokes if you're looking hard enough. And written in a huge rush. You have been warned.
> 
>  **Prompt** : Miss Bechdel, I Presume?: See if you can create a Watson's Woes work that passes the Bechdel-Wallace Test (have two named women talk to each other about something other than a man).

_Scene: A small television studio. Two women who look superficially alike sit across from each other in comfortable chairs. At the feet of one of the women lies a shaggy dog with reddish-brown hair._

PD: Good evening! I’m Prairie Dawn, reporting to you for Monster News Network. Tonight we’re going to speak with one of the pioneering women Muppets of Sesame Street. She’s had many roles over the years and withstood the test of time when so many others have faded away. It’s been my pleasure to work with her over the years. Betty Lou, it’s an honor to speak with you.

BL: Thank you so much. It’s a pleasure to be here.

PD: You’ve had a remarkably long career.

BL: Yes, I made my debut in 1970.

Dog: Woof!

BL: Yes, that’s right, just a year before you did, Prairie Dawn. I remember our early days together, working in skits, sharing lunch at the canteen. That was a very busy, exciting time!

PD: It really was. But it was a challenging time too, wasn’t it?

BL: Oh, very much so! There weren’t many roles for female performers then, at least not Muppet humanoid females. Maria and Susan led the way for the human women –

Dog: Woof!

BL: Of course I remember Jennie, but she didn’t stay, did she? She left right after the first episode! But that’s beside the point. For Muppets, all the major speaking roles went to men. Bert, Ernie, Big Bird, Oscar, Grover… Wonderful people, all of them, and Grover, Oscar, Cookie Monster, and the rest really have broken barriers for monsters in television. But you and I, we had to struggle for years just to get basic recognition.

PD: It’s true. We were working bit parts at best in small numbers. Some of the show runners treated us as practically interchangeable.

BL: It’s amazing how many times we were mistaken for each other, isn’t it?

Dog: Woof!

BL: And Lucy Jones and Helen Happy too, yes, I remember, thank you Watson. And even when we did start breaking through with significant parts, all too often we went uncredited for our work. If you remember, my first big number and hit single, “I Want a Monster to Be My Playmate”…

PD: Such a catchy tune and you really sold it.

BL: Thank you, I was very proud of that performance. And then, on the album, I was credited as “Little Girl”! Not as Betty Lou, but just “Little Girl.” I kept a brave face about it in public, but I’m not ashamed to admit I cried when I got home.

Dog: *whimpers*

BL: Yes, girl, you were a great comfort to me then and now.

PD: Girl? I thought this was Watson.

BL: Yes, Watson, who plays the part of Sherlock Hemlock’s trusted companion in recurring segments on the show.

PD: Watson is a girl?

BL: It’s a common misconception. Male dogs usually get all the Hollywood parts. But they wanted a non-showy dog for the part, so as to not overshadow Sherlock Hemlock, and wouldn’t you know, Watson, as a female, was considered perfect for the part.

PD: That really does just figure, doesn’t it?

Watson: Woof! Woof!

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted July 22, 2020.


End file.
